Mid Century Rocker - what a great idea

Saw this on Apartment Therapy the other day (via Urban Outfitters). Love this concept. Not to mention,...it's under 300.00. Not too shabby.

My big Idea....someone else made it happen.

Well, I knew this would eventually happen. I wrote a business plan for this concept 3 years ago. Even had several editors scoped out. But alas, I never did anything with it. Especially after I took a f/t job with CBS. I'm actually quite happy to see this come to life! Especially since it's from the folks who were laid off when Domino magazine shut down. I envisioned a different interface - but this is a great start. Print publications need to embrace the online space. They need to figure out how to bring the "magazine on your coffee table, in your hands, flip through it several times" experience to the online world. Which is NOT totally impossible in this headline-scanning online world. I'll be checking out Lonny Mag from here on out. (and maybe I'll redraft my business plan,..just for kicks. Who knows what the the future might bring). ;) Check it out, lonnymag.com

Nesting Dolls - cups

How cute are these nesting dolls from from Fred & Friends? They measure 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 1 full cup. Great holiday gift idea.

New Chair Project. Fabric Search is on!

Well, I'm fortunate enough to know folks with furniture to spare. Sort of. Shannon (i work with her) knew about my love for reupholstering chairs and asked if I'd be interested in a chair her parents were about to toss. Yes! ..oh, I should see it first. Saw it, it was perfect (photo to be posted soon). High back, library chair. Really looking forward a hearty Fall project. Must find fabric soon. (thanks Shannon! and Shannon's parents!)

MIssion Kitchen

Baked about 3-dozen gluten free choc chip cookies today. It's not that I don't like our new kitchen, but I kinda miss our old Mission kitchen (gypsy style). The sugar holder is one of my favorite pieces - thank you Esther. It's so happy and so original. I can't remember where she got it - some secret shopping spot that we cannot reveal on the information super highway!!

Goodbye Purple. Hello Slate.

Click below image for a bigger view of purple-ness

Couldn't take the purple walls any longer. Finally painted over them last weekend. It took me 15 minutes to pick the colors: Dark slate wall is Anchor Gray 2126-30 (much darker than I expected) and the light gray color is Pigeon Gray 2133-50. Both are Benjamin Moore interior flat. The white walls are swiss coffee.

Gluten Free. I heart Baby Cakes AND Erin McKenna

BabyCakes, the Book of Recipes: It's Here! from BabyCakes NYC on Vimeo.

This new cookbook is on my holiday wish list. (I'll probably buy it this weekend)

www.babycakesnyc.com

Brainstorming this fine Tuesday

Too little time these days for 'real' brainstorming sessions. Need to figure out a way to slow down time so I can sit in peace and really think through some ideas. This mug will have to do for now.

Poker night at the homestead

Ok, so it's not a creative project, but these are my closest friends and they inspire me to create. That should count for something, right? Right.

Dining Room - Before and After

Finally posting these photos. The entire front portion of our house was originally canary yellow. It was just too much. we painted the living room white with one accent wall and one wall with a giant robot panting. I wanted the dining room to stand out on its own w/o competing with the living room. And for some weird reason, I wanted it to feel beach-like. There's an amazing skylight in the dining room with an old-school (anthropologie-like) chandelier). I repainted the dining room chairs from red to lime green and bought that giant lamp at thrift store and spray painted it a high-gloss white. Got the sea-grass rug at a remnant shop in the East Bay (total steal!). This room makes me happy every time I walk into it. (the dining table is also used for ping pong - after work stress relief).

THE BUTCHER SHOP 2009

Very inspiring weekend with the Chicoans. Still thinking about all of the wonderful performances! Photo: Suzanne Karp More photos HERE.

Kitchen Re-Do

We recently moved out of the worst living situation we have ever encountered (long story) and moved to a wonderful new home and are thrilled with our new living environment! We decided to give the kitchen a nice update. It went from royal blue to off-white with a chalkboard wall. We also added some drapes (Amy Butler fabric) for the front window. Of course, the kitchen wouldn't be complete without Dan's Japanese doorway drapes. Happy Kitchen.

New Robot Painting

If Badu could talk, she would have been asking me...."are you REALLY going to paint over your old canvases?!" I thought about it for a while and it was time to put some new art in our house. Our new place is probably the most grown-up space we've ever lived in. I wanted to balance our urban-pirate-gypsy style with the conservative structure of the house. I've always wanted to paint a giant robot and this was the perfect excuse.

Domino, Shopping and Decorating Magazine, Closes

Total Bummer.

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
Published: January 28, 2009
Domino, a three-year-old shopping and home décor magazine, will stop publishing with its March issue, Condé Nast Publications announced Wednesday.

Street art that brings a tear to my eye. Happy Inauguration Day!

unurth.com

CES - Booth Design in Da house!

I'm here in Las Vegas with Shaun Charity - our lead designer for the overall booth design. Mad props to Mr. CHarity for a job well done. We're admiring all of our hard work and wanted to share it with the team - and didn't want to clog the work-email pipe. Overall, great work by the entire team - some shout-outs to our key players: Vibol, Alex, Keith, Andy, Shaun, Khoa and Gina for all of their hard work. Great Great Job!

Glorious Day! Rockin' Obama!

I am so thankful the election has come to a close. I have been so stressed out about the outcome.

Now I am simply, ...over the moon.

I feel proud to be an American for the first time in a LONG time. I feel hopeful. I feel like the United States just gave itself a giant hug. I am inspired by this wonderful man and I'm inspired knowing that millions of people in this country want to make this a better world and that they too believe in change.

Yes we can.

*artwork by David Choe

I also wanted to add in an email that my aunt sent me this morning from Pennsylvania. It was very moving and I believe that most people feel this way too:

"Well-----history has been made and we are all alive to experience this amazing outcome. I truly feel as tho we have better times ahead for us -- we can only hope and pray.
I have to admit that I had tears running down my face last evening, listening to Barack give his speech. Watching the crowd crying, looking at his wife and children, seeing the combining of Joe Biden's family and Barack's family---and knowing that people all over the world were feeling a lift and a pride in our nation, just reduced me to tears.
The lack of sleep doesn't matter at this point---even a jubilant Max jumped out of bed this morning and I KNOW he didn't fall asleep until after 1:00 am. Seeing my neighbor, Delaney this morning shaking my hand, and thanking us for being involved in an election that made a man president who has his same skin color, made me very proud of the voting process.
I wouldn't want the job of president for all the money in the world----but thank God there is someone who feels as tho he can make a change to make this country , once again, a respected place for ALL the world to see.
Now we wait and see if ALL the people in this country can drop their prejudices and join together to help get us back to a greatness of which we are so capable.
Have a wonderful day everyone---YES WE CAN.
Love
Roe"

Getting Back on Track + Inspiration

Well, I've been MIA for the last 4 months. We moved, I started a new job (redesigned and launched a new brand+website) and I'm about to do it all over again. All of it, moving included.

Needless to say, my personal-creative-life has suffered. Dan and I are anxious to move to a welcoming space with great energy, good vibes, and most importantly, no construction. Keeping the positive thoughts alive, I was inspired today to add a new posting. My pal Grace (who I've never met in person, but have shared many-an-email with & has featured some of my work on her site) was featured in Domino this month! Hot diggity dog! I am so happy for her and so pleased that Domino gave her a huge shout-out. Congrats! For more info on the article and Design Sponge, click here

We moved & it's time to purge....

I'm finally selling some of my older paintings. i simply don't have room for them anymore. I'm holding on to some of my favorites, of course, but these ones are on the selling block. If you're interested, drop me a line.

Odd
4 x 3 ft
$100.00

Lemons
3 x 4.5 ft
$150.00

Passion
2.5 x 3.5 ft
$50.00

Red Fish "listen to what's inside"
4 x 2 ft
$100.00